Home / Project Auske

a CREATIVE HOUSE

of

PEOPLE, IDEAS

& MOVEMENT

Project Auske is an artist-led not-for-profit organisation, building on 20 years of creative and producing collaboration between Bridget Fiske and Joseph Lau.

Project Auske is a Creative House driven by change-making, social and political engagement and empowering great projects of varied scope and scale. Project Auske creates artistic projects that explore the wonderment and complexities of living experience, the edges of artistic forms and the coexistence and intersection of ideas.

Led by Bridget and Joseph, Project Auske is a vehicle to realise greater ambitious scales of development, change-making and creativity.

Photographer Nadia Milford. In image Charles Ball, Sammie Williams, Joseph Lau, Chloe Lanham and Kristian Santic in rehearsal for 'Corpus Alimentation' from 'They Gather' 2019

Finally, a roof for all that good stuff to grow under!

About Project Auske

Project Auske is powered by artists Bridget Fiske & Joseph Lau who each have over 20 years of international experience as respected choreographers, facilitators, producers and curators.

Project Auske is a creative artist led organisation that works on the many layers of creative thinking, organising and making, through responsiveness, authenticity and problem-solving.

Project Auske does this by listening, imagining, researching, actioning, practicing and making.

Project Auske is a support for the many ideas and creative works of its leads Bridget Fiske and Joseph Lau, whilst also partnering and collaborating with artists, communities, organisations and businesses.

Our work occurs and reaches people locally and internationally.

We put ideas and purpose at the centre of what we do.

We are particularly interested in:

- creating relationships, dialogues and opportunities between UK & Australia. But we also love the world, so we love to create international and collaborative opportunities wherever we can.

- curating and producing projects that support other artists to develop as well as contribute to shifting perspectives and change.

we DREAM

we DIRECT

we CHOREOGRAPH

we FACILITATE

we PARTNER

we CURATE

we MAKE

What we do and why

Bridget Fiske

As a creative and as a multifaceted artist, Bridget has a 20 year portfolio working in: choreography, direction (including movement & rehearsal direction), performance, interdisciplinary collaboration, dance, movement & embodied practices, teaching & facilitation in community and education contexts as well as arts development, curation & producing. Bridget's responsive practice engages and collaborates with people, ideas, dreams, environments, histories, philosophies, living experiences and activism.

Bridget's work occurs on various scales and in various ways, including: since 2012 the international touring of urgent theatre productions with the renowned Belarus Free Theatre as Choreographic/ Movement & Rehearsal Director (including ‘Burning Doors' with Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina - winner ‘Best Ensemble’ Off West End Awards and listed in the New York Times 'Best Theatre of 2017'), to creating work about the 'Great Australian Silence' as Movement Director in 'Trustees' (Malthouse Theatre & Melbourne International Arts Festival 2018), to sharing the story of revolution and inspiring audiences to move in the VAULT Festival, London headline production 'Counting Sheep: Staging A Revolution' as Choreographic & Rehearsal Director, to creating and performing works for public space festivals and galleries (e.g. a flashmob of women and girls for Dance Manchester in Manchester International Women's Festival to the solo work 'Aquarist Nimble'), to supporting and facilitating ways for young people to develop their creative practice, skills and voice by teaching, facilitating, lecturing and mentoring (e.g. The Lowry Centre for Advanced Training, the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts and various universities in the UK and Australia), to performing in dance, theatre and film works (Bridget has recently been working on the Ukrainian hybrid documentary 'Iron Butterflies' about the downing of flight MH17 as Choreographer and as a Performer), to making projects happen such as the independent, tri-national and multi-modal project 'They Gather'.

Other credits include: Curatorial Assistant & Dancer/ Choreographer on Cheryl Stock's large scale interdisciplinary, intercultural, international project 'Accented Body' (2006 Brisbane Festival), Company Dancer Buzz Dance Theatre (performing works by Paige Gordon, Carol Wellman Kelly and Felicity Bott), the strategic role of Dance Development Officer with Dance Manchester, Choreographer on large scale youth dance projects 'Stellarium' (collaborating with leading female British Astrophysicists and engaging hundreds fo young people in performance work about the formation of stars and the sun) and 'Before The Pass' (as an Associate Artist of Company Chameleon and for Rugby League Cares 'Join The Momentum' project engaging hundreds of young people performing at St James' Park for Rugby League Magic Weekend) and as a guest and regular teacher delivering company class for Bangarra Dance Theatre, Expressions Dance Company, Dancenorth Australia, Tasdance, Ludus Dance and more.

Bridget has received commissions and support for creative projects and professional development from: The Future (a partnership between Rambert and The Lowry), Moving Dance Forward (Dance Manchester and MDI in partnership with the Unity Theatre, Contact, The Lowry and University of Salford), Be SpectACTive!, Illuminating York, moves - International Festival of Movement on Screen and The Watching Dance Project, The Lowry DigitFest, One Dance UK Dance Teachers Mentoring Programme, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, The Ian Potter Cultural Trust, 'Creative Sparks’ a partnership programme between Brisbane City Council and The Queensland Government via Arts Queensland and the Australia Council for the Arts ‘Foot in the Door’ Emerging Performers Initiative.

www.bridgetfiske.com

About Fiske & Lau

Joseph Lau

Joseph is an independent artist in dance and theatre working as a performer, choreographer, and facilitator. Joseph also works in areas of artist-led development and arts entrepreneurship.

Joseph identifies as being born a migrant: being born in Singapore but of Malaysian citizenship to Chinese Malaysian parents, then migrating to Papua New Guinea before arriving in Australia in his youth and then as an adult finding his way to the UK.

Joseph’s choreographic work centres around three areas of investigation, these being: memory, design of the expressive body & of space and the political. Joseph's work has been commissioned by ‘Dance Channels’ an EU Creative Europe funded collaboration, Moving Dance Forward (Dance Manchester and MDI in partnership with the Unity Theatre, Contact, The Lowry and University of Salford)), University of Salford and was the 2010 TURN Prize winner.

Joseph's choreographic portfolio also includes: works as part of the new movement and dance collective Out of the Blue Productions in partnership with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and eu-art-network, ATOM Choreographic Series #3 (BG), 'Deeper Than All Roses' for the FascinatE (University of Salford, BBC, Technicolour & EU partners) and other independent initiatives.

Joseph has performed with Opera Queensland, Buzz Dance Theatre, Dance North (now Dancenorth Australia), Willi Dorner, imitating the dog, Bridget Fiske, and Barking Gecko Theatre Company. As an active and inquisitive maker Joseph has also created and performed solo works that are both physically and emotionally demanding including 'The Age Of Ledger'.

Joseph has an extensive history facilitating in education, community and professional training contexts. Since 2011 Joseph has been a sessional lecturer at University of Salford. Joseph has also worked on acclaimed grassroots youth dance projects such as STRIDE a dance project for young men in Greater Manchester realised via a partnership between Company Chameleon and Dance Manchester, amongst many other projects and engagements.

Prior to studying dance, Joseph completed a Bachelor of Commerce at University of Queensland and qualified as an Chartered Accountant Australia New Zealand. This dual knowledge has supported Joseph to take on roles in arts & cultural leadership and spearhead artist led initiatives. Roles include: current, hAb (Advisory Committee Member) and Manchester Dance Consortium (Strategic Group Member), and previous roles with Company Chameleon (Board Member), Ausdance Queensland (Treasurer), Critical Mass - Brisbane artist led initiative (Committee Member) and Expressions Dance Company (Treasurer).

www.jauartist.com

Portfolio: what we have done

Portfolio

Project Auske, has been present in many ways over the past 20 years, even before its formalisation.

It has been there as a collaboration and as a support in almost everything Bridget and Joseph have done together as artists and curators/ producers.

Below are various projects that we feel express this collaboration: where is has been emergent and where it has been concrete.

Also below are projects and engagements from Bridget and Joseph's individual portfolios that speaks to what we each brings to Project Auske.

creative / producing - 'Everyday Freedoms' from 'They Gather' (AUS/ NL/ UK)

A durational work that looks at our need for freedom and where, when and how this exists and is expressed. Engaging deliberate & incidental audiences in public spaces, 'Everyday Freedoms' proposes states of being while questioning ideas about value, systems, and freedoms. It is an exploration of physical and intangible containment, of boundaries between collective responsibility and the individual as well as shifting needs. 'They Gather' is an independent and multi-modal project with partnerships in the UK, the Netherlands and Australia.

partnership building / artist development / creative - ATOM Choreographic Series (BG)

Bridget and Joseph are developing a meaningful partnership with ATOM Choreographic Series led by ATOM Theatre in Bulgaria, that works on artist development by reaching young and emerging artists in Bulgaria and internationally. Photo courtesy of ATOM Choreographic Series. Photographer Photo Corps. Image from Joseph Lau's work 'A Study Of Many' at ATOM Choreographics Series #3, 2019.

partnership / producing - Stichting Modulus (NL)

Project Auske have been building a producing and creative partnership with the Netherlands based foundation Stichting Modulus. Their main partnership has been on the tri-national and multi-modal project 'They Gather' where they have worked together to realise an aggregation of funding to make this ambitious independent project happen.

ABOUT : “Stichting Modulus (Modulus Foundation) is an interdisciplinary arts platform founded in 2014 by artists/performers/makers Stelios Manousakis and Stephanie Pan. We focus on innovative, grassroots projects that engage the public, challenge and confront, ask questions, and offer a different outlook and philosophy on how we can exist in today’s society.We are committed to engaging with the community at large, locally, nationally and internationally, and creating the space, time, and context for people to slow down and reflect. We are also committed to investing in the future – independently or by collaborating with schools, universities, and organizations to offer alternative perspectives to the young generation. Through our activities, we seek to bridge different worlds and publics, bringing together, for example, established contemporary art with the underground, audiences from disparate spheres and locations, diverse media and approaches. Our goal is to create transformative experiences that resonate with our public long after – moving them viscerally, emotionally and mentally.”

Read more about Stichting Modulus and their initiative Modern Body Festival here: http://modernbodyfestival.org/now/

creative / producing - 'Corpus Alimentation' from 'They Gather' (AUS/ NL/ UK)

Part documentary, part science fiction, part ritual: audience gather for an immersive experience of electronic sounds, contemporary vocals and evocative dance. How to survive a falling lift, a mother’s story of her newborn’s urgency to feed, how to repot a plant and an account of the person who survived the greatest free fall in history all become metaphors for a state of emergency. Vulnerabilities, scarcity and survival provide potent threads for being with the physiological needs that drive reactions to flock, to protect, to shelter, of fight or flight. 'They Gather' is an independent and multi-modal project with partnerships in the UK, the Netherlands and Australia.

creative / producing - 'Lost In Feeling' from 'They Gather' (AUS/ NL/ UK)

A mass public participation work for audience, community and artists exploring our need to connect to others, to be seen and to be heard, 'Lost In Feeling' re-imagines being in a large gathering (e.g. a demonstration, a celebration) where the self is both lost within and empowered by being part of a mass gathering. Occupying public space with bodies, sound and the use of localised FM radio networks, the choreography emerges through a performed score that instigates and investigates swarm behaviours through embodied algorithmic thinking. 'They Gather' is an independent and multi-modal project with partnerships in the UK, the Netherlands and Australia.

curation / producing / artist development - Manchester Choreolab 2017 (UK)

A week-long international workshop laboratory focusing on the practice of choreography. An initiative of Manchester Dance Consortium. Lau is a founding Strategy Committee Member and Fiske worked as fundraiser and Creative/ Lead Producer. Manchester Dance Consortium (MDC) is an artist led initiative working on creating community, opportunity & activity that supports the development of dance artists & dance work in Manchester, UK.

creative / producing - 'YES Move. NO Move. (Moved?)'. Commissioned by Be SpectACTive (EU wide)

Informed by dialogue and interactions with communities across three distinctly different European cities, ‘YES Move. NO Move (Moved?)’ is a challenging and interactive dance theatre project asking, what’s really at stake when we fail to embrace the other in ourselves? Bridget Fiske in collaboration with Catherine Simmonds, Melita Jurisic, Joseph Lau, Andrew Crofts, Miguel Marin and Community. Realised in the framework of Be SpectACTive!

creative / producing - Entertaining A Small Place' from 'They Gather' (AUS/ NL/ UK)

A new 'They Gather' module in development 'Entertaining A Small Place' is performed by Bridget Fiske choreographed & directed by Bridget Fiske and Joseph Lau and composed & performed by Stephanie Pan.

Synopsis: By some form of accident Bridget was Miss Junior Showgirl at the Kyabram Show circa 1985. This is where this begins. A work about parading, grief, survival and beauty. '

They Gather' is an independent and multi-modal project with partnerships in the UK, the Netherlands and Australia.

creative / producing - 'Inner Terra' (UK)

A new duet for public spaces, 'Inner Terra’ is a documentary inscribed through the body, exploring conflict, compassion and chaos.

'Inner Terra' has been presented in the UK and was one of the works in the programme 'Persona/ All' by Fiske & Lau that was presented on the openning night of the first Supercell Festival of Contemporary Dance, Brisbane (AUS).

"Balancing SUPERCELL’s stylistic breadth was its tight focus on the themes of globalisation and identity, which flowed through the entire programme. Particular mentions to Bridget Fiske’s ‘Inner Terra’ and Hepi and Wasasala’s ‘Passing’ for their powerful exploration of cultural assimilation and its impact on identity. Both duets used physical exchanges, and the friction between the two bodies, to demonstrate how cultural assimilation works on and through our bodies, and the emotional marks it leaves." Alana Tierney, Scenestre.